April 20, 2008

Dear Friends and Family,

May Christ be the source of our Faith, the reason for our Hope, and the center of our Lives!

As the Easter Season comes to a close, and we prepare for the feast of Pentecost, we ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit: Come, Holy Spirit! We are also now preparing for the close of the semester and are discerning the next steps in the Coles family journey.

Thank you all who prayed so vigilantly for the possibility of us going to Lourdes. We have been asked to travel to Lourdes, France on a pilgrimage next Wednesday (April 30) for 8 days with the Order of Malta. We will be continuing to ask for Matt's healing, and in all things for the Lord's will to be done. We are so grateful to have this opportunity to go on this pilgrimage (all three of us) and look forward to taking to Our Lady any prayer requests that you may have.

This month we also rejoiced in the visit of the Holy Father to Washington!! We were blessed by his presence here in DC, and there was much activity. One of the small pleasures of the Pope being here was seeing his Popemobile as I was sitting outside for lunch at work. A friend and I jumped up as we heard the motorcade and then started shouting as we saw the popemobile...as it got closer we realized that there was no Pope in the Popemobile...they were just transporting it to his next public location...oh well. But the next day, we all had the privilege of seeing that same Popemobile very close (and he was in it this time) as we were able to attend the Papal Mass! His presence truly is one of hope, and it was beautiful to see and hear the Vicar of Christ. We have placed some links on our website of some of his talks, as well as some pictures and videos from the Mass.

Regarding the cancer, Matt's most recent scans on Good Friday came back mostly stable with only neglible growth in his kidneys and pancreas. This was done about 6 weeks into the alternative treatment that he had started and was very positive news. The metastases in his brain were unchanged (there are several of them), which is even better. His energy level is top notch, and at the moment he is quite happy to not be on any drugs. We still see Dr. Smith every three weeks and have scans every six weeks to monitor the progress. Our next scan will be when we return from Lourdes.Matt is very car eful in attending to the alternative regimen and it takes much energy to do it fully each day- but he does, and we are grateful. We continually get glimpses of how much we need to place our trust in the Lord as even when he is doing everything he can, it is clear that the cancer is still present. It is a humbling experience to know that we are not in charge.

John-Matthew is amazing! He has his first tooth, the bottom right, and the other bottom tooth is pushing through. He enjoys fruits, especially cantaloupe! He is sitting up, rolling over, and continuing to compete for the title of "most joyful baby ever!" We are truly blessed to have him keep us laughing and, as a dominican sister recently said, to be our "sanctifying grace"!

Matt's classes will come to a close in the next two weeks, so all of his coursework will be completed! He will have his oral exams next week to complete the Licentiate in Philosophy. We really don't know where we will end up next year; there are a great many factors that play into the decision - jobs, housing, cancer, insurance, etc. So we ask for your prayers in all of these areas, as well as for a safe pilgrimage to Lourdes. Thank you for all of your prayers.

All of the new pictures, videos and links can be found at http://familycoles.googlepages.com .

May you have a blessed Easter season and a transforming Pentecost!
Through the hearts of Jesus and Mary,
Matt, Lucy and John-Matthew